1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to the management of record archives, and, more specifically, to a specialized computing system and computer-implemented method for managing disposition of record archive content, taking into account both the retention periods associated with the content, as well as the application of legal holds.
2. Background
Maintaining organizational records has long been a challenging problem. In order for records to be archived meaningfully, they must be classified and indexed for easy retrieval, stored in physical or digital form, secured and, eventually, destroyed after they are no longer of use to prevent the archive from becoming unmanageably large. This has proven to be a difficult task, and the sheer volume of information and documentation generated by a large, modern business can make this task nearly impossible. A simple but thorough rule set is the first step to the implementation of a successful recordkeeping process. Specific rules and policies are created for the management of records based on regulatory requirements and operational needs of the organization, so that records can be appropriately classified, and associated requirements such as retention periods applied. Increasingly, electronic systems are utilized to ensure appropriate categorization, retention and retrieval of records based on these retention rules.
The necessity of further accommodating “legal holds” on records complicates an already arduous task. In addition to the proactive retention obligations established by an organization's regulatory or operational needs, it may also be required to place records on “legal hold” in order to preserve information relevant to litigation or regulatory matters. Because recordkeeping processes are usually disjointed from the application of legal holds, identifying records that are appropriate for disposition both from a policy and legal hold perspective is typically arduous, labor intensive and generally inefficient. Given the challenge of compensating for potentially many legal holds across physical and electronic archives in a scalable, repeatable and defensible manner, many organizations have effectively suspended their records disposition processes, and are keeping large amounts or records indefinitely out of concern that they might otherwise violate their legal hold obligations, which could result in serious litigation or regulatory consequences.